Punny film titles are to die for. For starters, I do not remember the last time we had one for a Hindi feature film – let alone doing it right. A film about two warring individuals gets titled as War and one about an obsessive fan is called – wait […]
“Chintu Ka Birthday”… Family love in times of war and devastation!
Sometimes it works like magic to step into a film screening knowing nothing else but its name and those of the principal cast members. I mean, at most, what can you expect from a film titled Chintu Ka Birthday and headlined by Vinay Pathak, Tillotama Shome and Seema Pahwa. At […]
“Bhasmasur”… A slow-burn Indie that gets its atmospherics just right!
Director Nishil Sheth’s debut feature film is titled Bhasmasur. A demon from Hindu mythology, Bhasmasur is known to have asked for a peculiar boon from Lord Shiva – the ability to eliminate anyone by mere placement of his palms on their heads. Largely a spiteful character, the real Bhasmasur defined […]
‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’ review – a bittersweet take on gender confusions
In one of the most powerful scenes in Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a supposedly ‘reformed gay man’ breaks down before the protagonist when he is quizzed about a mishap that occurred to a homosexual teenager. A close advocate of the idea that same-sex attraction is a “sin” as opposed […]
‘Tikli and Laxmi Bomb’ review – a soul-stirring lament to Mumba Devi
In the finest stretch in Aditya Kripalani’s Tikli and Laxmi Bomb, we see a stifled Laxmi (Vibhawari Deshpande) run away from the hospital room where her roommate Tikli (Chitrangada Chakraborty) lay unconscious. Next, we spot her by Mumbai’s Marine Drive, making a customary metaphorization of Mumbai versus her ilk. “Mumbai, […]